


I like you better as a brother than as a dad

by octoaliencowboy



Category: DCU
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, No editing we die like mne, common themes in my fics: ice cream, i guess, little ficlet i filled out for a prompt decided to post here, obligatory lilo and stitch reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 16:50:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16412252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/octoaliencowboy/pseuds/octoaliencowboy
Summary: Some people think that Dick is like a father to Damian. This isn't correct. A father isn't what Damian needs Dick to be.





	I like you better as a brother than as a dad

**Author's Note:**

> sorry this is a little bit terrible lol but just take it  
> i have a ton of shit sitting unposted in my docs so i decided to release one  
> also ppl who think that dick is damians dad are wrong lol

Dick was lecturing Damian again. It seemed like every night Dick had something to preach to him, whether it be about his technique or his reckless behaviour or anything else. Damian knew what Dick was doing, he had watched it build and escalate for a while now, and he didn’t like it at all. 

 

“Hey, look at me when i'm talking to y—“

 

Damian’s head whipped around so fast he nearly broke his neck. He leveled a heated glare at his brother-- because that’s who Dick is to him, he’s Damian’s  _ brother _ , not whatever the hell Dick is trying to be right now.

 

“Stop it!” He damn near screamed. His voice was cracking with the intensity that the words were ripping their way out of his throat. “Just stop it! You’re not my father, Richard, so stop trying to act like you are!”

 

Dick had no choice but to stop his lecture midword. He blinked once in surprise, and then once more. 

 

When Bruce came back and Dick stopped being Batman, his and Damian’s dynamic had changed completely. Changed for the better. There had always been something about Grayson that rubbed Damian slightly in the wrong direction, even when they had gotten closer, but it wasn’t until after Bruce’s return that Damian realized what it was.

 

At that time in their lives, Dick had been trying to take over every aspect of their father’s life, as if he had to take Bruce’s place in life instead of continuing to live his own. And that extended to how he treated Damian. Dick had, whether he had noticed it or not, been attempting to be Damian’s father in Bruce’s place. 

 

And then Bruce came back, and Dick became Damian’s  _ brother _ , like he was supposed to be, and Damian had liked that infinitely better. 

 

And now Bruce was gone again, maybe for good this time, and even if Dick wasn’t Batman again, they were all still right back at square one. 

 

Had they learned nothing? Damian was near baffled. 

 

“What are you talking about?” Dick asked, voice small like Damian’s words had flayed open something tender and raw inside of him. 

 

Damian’s hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. “You’re trying to act like a father to me again, and I  _ hate  _ it!”

 

“Damian, I-- I’m sorry… I didn’t realize..” Dick could feel his own heart sinking through the floor at the sight of Damian so distressed. Losing Bruce again had been hard on all of them, and Dick had been doing everything in his power to lessen the the pain and the burden on the youngest’s shoulders. To think that this time it had been himself who’d hurt Damian-- Dick almost felt sick.

 

“I don’t want you to be sorry.” Damian mumbled, left deflated after the burst of rage and grief had finished burning through his body. He wiped his nose on the back of his glove. “I just want you to be my brother again. I like you better as a brother than as a dad.”

 

“Oh, Damian…” Dick said, pulling the teen into a tight embrace just as he began to sob. 

 

“I never meant to replace Bruce.” Dick whispered into Damian’s hair. He felt Damian nod against his collarbone. 

 

“I know.” Said the boy. “But sometimes you’re just stupid. You can’t help it.” 

 

Dick let out a little, surprised snort of laughter. “Alright, you little brat.” He said affectionately as Damian began to squirm out of the hug. “I promise I won’t try to act like your father anymore. Only brotherly behaviour from here on out.”

 

“Now, how about we get into some pjs and have some late night ice cream?”

 

Damian cracked a little smile at the ground. “Yes.”

 

Dick smirked. “What’s the magic word?”

 

That earned him a frown. “Grayson, you literally just said—“

 

“Oh, I’m not doing this to be your father.” Dick said. “I’m doing it to be annoying.”

 

Damian scoffed. He shouldered past Dick towards the changing rooms, grumbling. “I hate you.”

 

“No, you don’t.”

 

“Maybe so.” Damian paused in the doorway. “For the record Grayson, you  _ will  _ make a great father someday. Just not to me.” 

 

Behind Damian’s back, Dick’s eyes began to water. He followed his brother into the change room, smile on his face. 


End file.
